Gray skies greeted us this morning, but the forecast was for a partly cloudy day with no rain, so we risked the ride.  The air was a lovely cool 74, perfect riding weather.  And the neighborhood was extra quiet this morning, not much traffic to deal with during my practice session.

            One of the falcons launched itself in front of me as I drove over to the practice street, again a good omen for the day.  I started simply with my U-turn practice on either end of the street, remembering to check the cross street on every pass.  I then began my stopping practice and was making strong, short stops.  I was doing so well, Bill suggested I try my stops with a turn of the bike instead of staying straight and practice starting the stop then continuing on. 

            As I turned the bike at the end of the stop, the bike lurched to the side I turned the stopping bike toward.  If I turned the bike toward the left, the bike would lurch left and vice versa on the right side.  I worked on putting my left foot down even when the bike lurched to the right and was successful all but one time.  I was fascinated to learn from this practice that I wasn’t afraid of the weight of the bike. 

            From my first approach to a motorcycle, I held in the back of my head the trepidation of dropping the bike.  It happens, and I know it will happen for me at some point.  Before I rode my first motorcycle (the Kawasaki Eliminator from the MSF class), I had a theoretical fear of dropping the bike.  During the class, the fear abated quite a bit as I was focused on the skills I was learning, only to return when I sat perched upon my beautiful BMW G310 GS, and with a lot less theory.

            I came close to dropping the bike once a few months back.  And as I practiced the stops with turns, I felt the weight of the bike combining with gravity trying to pull the bike down.  It was then that I realized that I am comfortable handling the bike, comfortable but not cocky, as Bill cautioned me.  Feeling comfortable with the weight of the bike and my ability to handle that weight allows me to focus even more on the skills I’m training.  I am not only confident in handling the bike, I also recognize that when I do drop my bike, I am confident I will be able to pick up all 375 pounds of it.

            Since my practice was going so well, we decided to spend a little more time on the neighborhood cruise.  I was quickly humbled as I stalled the bike again on the up camber of the road on takeoff, but I managed to get going on my second try.  Next week I’ll work a bit more on getting comfortable with coming on stronger on the throttle when dealing with elevation.

            We started on our usual route, driving up onto the gravel at Ferry Plantation House.  I slipped a little in the gravel because I had not slowed down enough but quickly corrected.  We ventured out onto a 35-mph road to access another neighborhood.  It was finally my chance to shift up to 5^th gear.  Because we took this route, we were able to ride on the gravel lot at the Lynnhaven House which had no cars as the house is temporarily closed.  We then ventured into the parking lot of the nearby medical facility and did some standing on the pegs riding.

            All-in-all a wonderful day of riding and, realizing he needs more time on the seat on the R NineT, Bill plans on joining me for more riding.

As we move closer to the weekends, my mind turns more and more to my riding—as would be expected.   This week, with all that has been going on in Afghanistan, my mind has been focused on the tragic bombing, our lost service members, and the Afghanis who were killed.  Yet even as these events and the image of a crying United States President filled my mind, my motorcycle ride managed to filter into my thoughts.

            One of the many wondrous aspects of motorcycle riding is its ability to completely absorb you.  As you’ve been reading in this blog, much of my mind is engaged in observing my surroundings, looking out for potential obstacles, getting the feel of my bike, how it’s handling, how I’m performing.  All of these thoughts allow for a beautiful escape from the world.  Then add in the view of the marsh hawk soaring above me, the beautiful Lynnhaven River, the flowers and trees as we cruised the neighborhoods, the orange sulphur butterfly that flitted quickly past, and a simple morning motorcycle ride becomes an escape.

            I think most people, if they think of escaping on a motorcycle, picture cruising down empty highways; before I began riding, I would have painted the same picture.  But this week I happily recognized that my motorcycle training offers me an escape.  I am especially happy to realize this as school starts next week, so my free and easy summer is at an end.  And despite the promises of no masks if we vaccinated, we will all be masked up—again.  Needless to say, I am not looking forward to this, but it will make me appreciate that much more the feel of the wind passing through my helmet on my weekend rides.

            I am also looking forward to the autumn weather.  Today the high hit 93 with a heat index of 104 and, even though we ride in the morning, the temperature was already at 88.  I could feel my wet t-shirt under my jacket plastering itself to my skin as I worked on the slalom and my fast breaking.  The trailer was still parked in front of the Armco, so I was having to make pretty tight U-turns again.  I worked on entering the slalom in second gear at about 11 mph even though I had to quickly slow and shift down to execute the U-turn.  Most of them went well, though I had a bobber where I had to put my left foot down, and one time, I didn’t turn quickly enough and almost ran into a crepe myrtle.  On that goof, I rolled on the throttle, so Bill gave me a caution to check myself riding in this heat.  When I got overly warm, I cruised half the neighborhood, getting a lovely, cooling breeze at 25 mph.

            After 45 minutes, I told Bill I’d had enough slow practice drills, so we went and picked up the R NineT.  For the second week in a row, I was able to take off without stalling, and I thought I was doing a really good job of keeping up with Bill.  Fifteen minutes into our ride as we sat at a stop sign (the only place I stalled while out cruising the neighborhood) waiting to turn right, Bill started out onto the road, stalled, and laid his bike down right in front of me.  He was fine and the bike landed on the crash bar as expected—yay—but it did surprise me.  Later, he explained that he had been feathering the brake and trying for slower take offs so I could better keep up with him.  So it wasn’t that my take off and acceleration skills had improved; it was Bill slowing down for me.

            Naturally, I have a long way to go.  What’s great about that is it means a lot more riding for me, and a lot more escaping on my motorcycle.

Gray skies greeted us with towering storm clouds building up; Bill was convinced we were crazy to even try to ride, but I had checked the forecast and our morning seemed safe.  So we headed over to Virginia Beach and picked up the bike.  

            My little dead-end street had four—growing to six—cars parked on the street and a camper trailer backed up to the Armco.  The neighbor was getting married Sunday, so he had a slew of relatives staying with him.  But I was not deterred; the parked cars were close enough together to leave me room at the end of the street for my turn around.  My only concern was the camper and its towing block that jutted out.  The parked cars meant no S turns this week, but I would still work on my U-turns, trying to tighten them up even more.

            But before I began my street practice, I went cruising through this half of the neighborhood.  The temperatures were in the low 80s, so when I rode at the speed limit, I felt a wonderful cooling breeze.  I was a little braver on my own this week and rode out on the main road that enters the neighborhood.  I wanted to ride in the gravel by the neighborhood park, but there was a truck and minivan parked in the gravel lot.  But a little up the road is the neighborhood pool which still has its gravel lot (which it’s had since I was a child), so I rode in.  I missed my first turn around because I quickly realized that I was on wet gravel with muddy ground and puddles, more than I had expected.  I managed to back the bike up and get it turned, made a half loop at the other end, and departed.

            That was when I headed back to my little street and worked on my stopping and my U-turns.  When Bill placed his chair in the street by the curb, I worried I had lost more of my U-turn space, but I skillfully turned the bike on all but one U-turn, even passing feet in front of Bill.  My stops were going great, so Bill set up the slalom for me.  My first pass through was in first gear and went well enough, and I was able to turn the bike around and slalom back through only having to skip one cone.  My next pass I decided to try staying in second gear as I slalomed realizing at the same time that I would have to quickly slow down and downshift to manage my U-turn.  The run went smoothly and I managed the U-turn, so I continued to use second gear for the main run.  On my third run through, I mistimed my slowdown and had to stop and back the bike up to get it turned around.  But that was the only one, and my next five runs went smoothly.

            We headed over to get Bill’s bike even though he still worried about the rain.  A huge puff of smoke came out the R NineT’s exhaust; as Bill later explained, he needs to use up the gas because it’s still the gas from the dealership—who knows how long it’s been in the bike.  But it started and ran so we were off.  I am happy to say I did not stall on takeoff, though I did rev the throttle more than needed.  We headed out on our usual route including a turn through the gravel drive.  I kept up much better with Bill and had no stalls on the stops.  It wasn’t until we pulled into my parents’ driveway to put the bike in the garage that I stalled again.  This time Bill got off his bike and watched me as I attempted to get up the driveway.  I wasn’t feathering the clutch.*  Once he pointed out to me that I need to feather the clutch, and I backed the bike down to the sidewalk to lessen the grade, I zoomed the bike right into the garage.

            As I drove us home, it dawned on me that I really was learning how to ride my bike.  And I recognize this as a “no duh” statement, but I’m making it to try and convey the feeling of accomplishment the day’s ride brought to me.  I am gaining confidence in my bike handling and looking forward to newer challenges.  I can’t wait for next week’s ride.

            In case you were wondering, I saw one of the falcons, an osprey, a gaggle of Canadian geese, and a Canadian Swallowtail that came fluttering out as I was finishing my street practice.  All in all, a fantastic day for riding.

* “feathering the clutch” for any non-riders means to let the clutch in and out to create movement (what’s known as the friction zone) without fully releasing the clutch

This Saturday was a typical August summer day—highs around 96 with a heat index of 108 and a heat advisory in effect.  We managed to get up and out fairly early (9:30), but the temps were already hitting 88 for my practice.

            My bad luck with the weather appeared balanced by the clear street—nothing parked in front of the Armco, and nobody but me parked on the street.  However, no sooner had I mounted the bike and started her up, than a city Ford pickup truck turned onto my practice area and parked in front of the Armco.  Earlier that week, the city had decided they needed to extend the ending sidewalk 9 more feet, so the workers were there to pull up the markers.  So my U-turn, stopping, and slaloming area was disrupted, which meant I could do slow cruising around this half of the neighborhood.

            My work was on street smarts for bikers—stopping correctly, starting, head on a swivel.  I had several courts I could practice turns in, and I had a through street that kept me off the main road and in the neighborhood.  What I found fascinating was how much more I was thinking about riding the bike, things that rarely cross my mind when I’m driving.  I realized that every driveway held a car that could back out into my path.  The cars parked on the side of the road could pull out in front of me or have someone step out from between them.

            There is something about riding on a motorcycle that makes everything more real and more immediate.  I’m not sure it’s as simple as the lack of four doors, a front end, and a roof.  The aspects of a car do provide a barrier to insulate you from your immediate surroundings.  Unconsciously, you drive around in your car and expect to be seen because others are driving cars too—though how many people are in accidents where one party claims not to have seen the other?  What I’m getting at, and something Bill has drilled into me, is that people don’t see motorcycles—literally—because they don’t relate to motorcycles.  Now that doesn’t mean every driver out there ignores motorcycles.  It means that your eyes are more likely trained to see other cars/trucks, and you don’t expect to see the motorcycle. 

            My neighborhood cruise, because it was solo, made me very aware of my visibility issues.  Even though I sit on a high bike, most parked vehicles on the side of the road block me from cars backing out of driveways.  My awareness of this reality increased on my routes, making this ride extremely beneficial to my overall riding abilities.  I had returned to my little dead-end street to find the pickup truck pulling away.  So I settled into some figure 8 practice, making two 8s before seeing the pickup truck returning and bringing two large dump trucks with it.  The only thing besides the new sidewalk were 4 orange barrels left behind, so I was flummoxed as to why these overlarge vehicles were backing up onto my little dead end.  And I was not too shot with city budgeting when I realized that these 3 trucks and crew of 6 were there to put some dirt down alongside the sidewalk—a stunning example of bureaucracy in action.

            I returned to my neighborhood cruising while the big trucks were there, about 10 minutes’ worth.  Finally, I had the shady spot of road to myself and resumed my figure 8s.  I managed a full steering lock on one turn, surprising myself by how confidently I handled the bike.  I realized as I worked on tightening up my turns that I trusted my ability to dab if necessary to keep the bike upright; this signified to me how much more confident I am as a rider.

            Bill came out and sat in his chair, so I worked some stopping into my practice.  I worked on pulling my body back as I ramped up on the brakes, managing to stop shorter each time.  Because it was such a hot day, I suggested we head over to get the R NineT which Bill had to do a repair on.  Last week we noticed the right taillight had popped out of its mooring, so Bill had to unscrew the locking mechanism, reseat it, and tighten it back up.  Not a difficult repair but a fairly miserable one on this hot day.

            Finally, it was time for us both to head out for our neighborhood cruise—my favorite part of the day.  I think I’ve mentioned that the street in front of my parents’ house has a fairly steep cant, and this cant is clearly working against me.  Not once, but three times I stalled trying to head out behind Bill!  So much for feeling confident.  I have to work on how much throttle to give as I work out of the friction zone—next week’s practice.

            I finally got out on the road and caught up, sort of, with Bill.  We went on our usual route except for added fun Bill turned into the gravel parking lot at the Ferry Plantation House and even road a bit onto the grass.  I followed suit, noting the changed feel of riding on the gravel and grass and smiling because we both very much want to do some off-road riding like this—though obviously in a larger area than the parking lot.

            We’re forecasted for highs in the 80s next Saturday, but the neighbor is having a dual wedding next weekend, so more riding adventures to come for sure.

Our run of beautiful Saturdays came to an end yesterday; thunderstorms and an all-day rain kept us from riding.  However, we got our bike fix by going to look at the 2022 Triumph Scrambler XE and the Rocket 3 GT, both bikes we hope to own one day once we have the garage space available.  And on this visit to the dealership, the sales guy told us we could test ride the bikes, whereas on his initial visit, Bill was told they don’t allow for test rides (then how do you sell a bike?).  But we were informed test rides are allowed for the Triumphs.  So one sunny day, we’ll head over for the test ride and probably the purchase of the Rocket as our pattern so far has been ride and buy.

As for this week’s ride, we have Sunday as a backup and, despite the cloud cover, we ventured out in hopes the rain was gone and the ride was on. The temperature was a lovely 75 for the ride, and the street was rider friendly—no boat trailers in sight and only 2 other vehicles on the road besides mine and three Canadian geese.  As we arrived, we noted the cricket players again on the school grounds but, being the delinquent rebels we are, we continued past and went to our new location.

I started with U-turns at either end of the street upsetting the geese, especially the one who tried to sit in the middle of the road.  After four or five passes, the geese had enough and scampered over into Bill’s yard.  Apparently these three were on the outs with the rest of the gaggle because they no sooner arrived in the yard than they were flying out, chased off by the others.

If you’re wondering if I rode or watched birds, the answer is both.  As I was gearing up, I looked up and saw a falcon circling above.  When I stopped to chat with Bill and he told me to go ahead and turn down the street and circle back through the court (my first solo ride on a public street), we stopped to watch the falcon circle around and land in a tree next to another falcon.  Then two more appeared.  And a few minutes later, we noticed larger raptors circling, most likely ospreys.  I was excited to see these birds because on Friday I had seen the local bald eagle soaring aloft on the thermals, enjoying the beautiful day.

As for the ride, I continued to U-turn at the end of the street, then head over to the court to circle back.  Bill set up my slalom—regular, not offset—which I had no problem with once he set the last cone further over to the right so I could better turn around.  Then I worked on getting a feel for my brakes.  I stopped, Bill set out a cone, and I stopped again right before the cone, then a few inches past the cone.  When I came into my stop shaking my head because I knew I had overshot it by at least the length of the bike, Bill removed the cone.  He explained that my objective was not to stop before the cone; I was working on getting a feel for how the brakes work.  My next stop was smooth and quick, and he held up a small twig that he had placed on the side of the road to mark where the cone had been; I had stopped two inches in front of it.

The best part of the day was when we returned to my parents’ garage and Bill got out the R NineT.  We set out to cruise the Sunday morning quiet neighborhood.  I again stalled the bike on take-off as the cant to the road is such that I am caught between wanting to brake to stop rolling back, getting the clutch out, and working the throttle—I need a LOT more practice with hill stops.  But I managed to keep up with Bill, enjoying the cool breeze washing over me as we rode about.  And what I really loved was that we kept riding—nearly half an hour of cruising as we ventured onto a fairly busy road to cruise through the upscale neighborhood.

Bill got away from me as we headed back into my old neighborhood as he went at the stop sign and I had to wait on three cars.  Of course he waited for me to catch up, and I did, discovering along the way that I liked being trusted on my own with the bike to make the correct choices.  When we returned the bikes to the garage, Bill jokingly told me he had doubled the miles on his, going from 10 to 20.  I was thrilled that he had the opportunity to ride as it had been several weeks since his last abbreviated cruise.  After all, he’s the reason we have these motorcycles, and he’s my inspiration for riding.  But I want him to have the joy and escape riding brings; he more than deserves it.

I own a motorcycle.  That’s not something I would have imagined myself saying 5 years ago, or even 3 years ago.  But I am the happy owner of a 2021 BMW G310 GS in Polar Ice.

            We woke up Saturday and, instead of following our usual routine, my boyfriend asked if I wanted to go look at motorcycles.  I said sure and boom, we were out the door and driving to Adventure BMW in Chesapeake.  It was a pleasant drive on a beautiful, cool Saturday morning.  And we were happy at how easy it was to find the dealership.

            We, of course, were just looking.  Through extensive research, we had narrowed down the choices of what my first motorcycle would be to the Honda CRF 300 L or the BMW G310 GS.  My boyfriend had visited Honda of Norfolk where he could gaze upon the Honda, but it was already sold and there were no others in stock for a test ride. So we were going to look at the G310, leave, discuss our options, make a decision, and proceed from there.

            We were met by Clayton, a super-enthusiastic mechanic for BMW, who led me straight to the G310 Rally.  I mounted the bike and was happy to note that my feet were flat on either side, though the gas tank did put pressure on my inner thighs.  However, when I put my feet up on the pegs, I could envision the comfortable ride.  Alas, as a newbie just completing the MSF, I was not allowed to test ride the bike because I had not yet been to the DMV to get the “M” designation on my license.  Of course, had I not confessed to being a newbie, I’m pretty sure it would have been glaringly obvious had I tried to test ride the bike.  But Clayton is a bike enthusiast, and he suggested I at least listen to the bike.

            We proceeded outside where the bike was started for the first time and purred beautifully.  There is something about the sound of a motorcycle that causes your heart to leap and your blood to quicken, all in anticipation of the adventure to come.  Clayton rode the bike a bit enough to demonstrate the ABS on the grass for us.  Then he introduced us to Rick, the sales manager, who offered my boyfriend, Bill, a test ride.  Bill then asked me if I wanted him to ride it, and I said yes.  Then he asked what I wanted him to pay attention to, and I really appreciate how he wants me to think through how I want the bike to handle.  I asked him to get a feel for the clutch, the suspension, and how it turns, and I felt good about myself for knowing to ask for at least that.

            He took off around the corner into a parking lot and was gone for 5 minutes.  When he returned, he was smiling wide and raving about what a great bike it was.  That was enough for me.  When a man who has ridden motorcycles for 50 years and has owned all different makes and models tells you it’s a great bike, you take him at his word.  So without another thought for the Honda, I said let’s buy it.  And we did.

            In fairness to the Honda CRF 300 L, that bike has also gotten good reviews as a good beginner dual purpose bike.  Of the two, the Honda probably favors the off-roading more than the BMW, though after purchasing the G310, we watched the Dirt Test BMW G310 GS by Motorcycle Adventure Dirtbike TV on Youtube, and saw that the bike would be fine for the off-road plans we have at this time.  So that just made us happier with our purchase.  And the BMW has a more solid feel to it as well as an availability that Honda cannot match.  Now I am ready to practice my new found riding skills first learned last weekend.  No more lazy weekends for me; I have a new aspect of training, and I am super excited to learn how to ride my brand-new motorcycle.  Wish me luck!

Another beautiful Saturday at the end of July—partly cloudy with winds out of the northeast, keeping temperatures right around 80 degrees.  We slept in a bit later than usually, so we didn’t start out until around 10:30.  But that’s because we decided we’d go ride and then head over to Surf Rider at Marina Shores for a yummy seafood lunch.  Bill was treating me to lunch because plans to go to Surf Rider that night and listen to Lewis McGehee, a local music legend, had fallen through.  We decided on lunch so we only had to drive out to VA Beach once today, and with the cool breeze and lovely day, it turned out perfect.  But I’m ahead of myself; back to the ride.

            As we turned onto the main thoroughfare through the neighborhood, we noticed a yard sale with lots of cars parked on the street.  Very quickly we noticed a second yard sale across the street from the first, and one block up we discovered three more yard sales.  Unbeknownst to us, we had arrived smack in the middle of the neighborhood community yard sale, the one Saturday a year when any and everyone in the neighborhood can have a yard sale with the advertising promoted through the civic league.  There would be no cruising through the neighborhood on both bikes after my practice.

            I just realized I was ahead of myself again.  As we first pulled into the neighborhood, we passed by our erstwhile elementary school, the one we were asked not to use anymore for our practicing.  The playground, basketball courts, and field were swarming with Americans of Indian descent purportedly there for a cricket match, though I don’t think the young men on the playground equipment could be said to be playing cricket.  Their cars were all parked in the bus lanes of the school and included two motorcycles.  Somehow this was acceptable by school personnel, but my practicing slow, safe skills on my motorcycle bespoke delinquency (note, I left off the juvenile).

            Despite the hypocrisy, despite the yard sale crowd, we quickly strategized a similar practice to last week where I worked on U-turns and stopping/threshold drills on the dead-end street.  Bill was sure there would be no yard sale at his house nor at his neighbors.  And he was right.  However, there was a yard sale at the last house on the block on the corner, a very popular yard sale based on the number of cars.

            But we would not be deterred.  Using the extra cars as additional awareness training, I worked on S turns (double U-turns) on the street.  I would pull over when a car came near me to either turn up the street or do their own U-turn.  I worked on feeling my weight shift onto the opposite peg from the turn.  I quickly realized that the reason I was struggling with my right side turn was because I needed to more consciously shift my weight onto my left peg.  I didn’t do much shifting of my butt, though.  I’m not comfortable enough on the canted street yet to do too much weight shifting.  I felt good pressing my foot onto the peg.  So I worked on this pulling over 3 times for unpredictable traffic.

            Then came “rush hour” where four vehicles headed up the street.  Two of them turned up the intersecting road, one did a U-turn, and the fourth, pulling a 25 foot boat, parked on the street in the middle of my practice area.  I pulled over by Bill laughing at the absurdity of it all.  Clearly Murphy had it out for us today.

            The restaurant became our silver lining, the way to rescue the day.  Now living near the Atlantic means seafood restaurants are incredibly popular especially during the height of summer.  This restaurant is also located adjacent to a Marina near a very spiffy residential part of town, so the well-to-do will have lunch and hang out looking out at the water and their boats.  The parking lot was crowded, but we managed to get a parking spot super close to the restaurant with a jet-ski rental tent on one side.  As we entered the restaurant, we noticed that it was still crowded even though we had arrived after 1:30.  Still, we only had to wait while the waitress wiped down a table—outside right on the water.

            So lunch saved the day.  We had delicious tuna bites, salads, and steamed shrimp and crab (no fried because we had indulged in hamburgers and French fries the night before).  As nice as lunch was, though, we are overdue for a break with our riding.